Kern River water may be plentiful this year but it’s never cheap
The Kern Water Bank Authority paid $35,000 just to file an application for a temporary permit to take up to 300,000 acre feet of Kern River flood water. There’s no guarantee the permit will be approved. Nor that the conditions in the permit – that rights holders are so full they can’t take more water and it’s in danger of being lost to the county – will ever be met. That may seem like a high price for a slim chance. But if the permit is approved, and the water comes through it will have been the deal of the century. Especially considering what water bank participants currently pay just for the hope of Kern River flood water.